ARMED robbers disguised in burqas escaped with thousands in cash after carrying out a post office raid in Paris.
The crime – which took place yesterday in the suburb of Athis Mons – comes as the French government faces growing calls for the controversial garments to be banned.
President Nicolas Sarkozy himself has described them as a “security risk”, saying they provide the perfect cover for criminals or terrorists.
Innocent shoppers ... or robbers in drag?
Now those fighting for the ban claim the robbery – which is the first of its kind in France – shows how useful the burqa is as a disguise.
It took place at around 10.30am, when two robbers carrying pistols entered the main post office bank building in Athis Mons, which has a large immigrant Muslim community, mainly from North Africa.
Once inside they ordered a bank clerk to take out the equivalent of £4,000 in cash by pointing a pistol at him. After ten minutes they fled to a nearby car park and escaped.
Police fear that they will not be able to identify the robbers on CCTV cameras. Said one detective:
It was a perfect disguise. Their faces and bodies were completely covered.
The robbery led to Le Parisien, the main daily paper in the French capital, to ask:
Will this first robbery using a burqa re-launch the debate about the Islamic veil being worn in public places?
A government committee has already recommended that burqas should not be allowed in civil buildings and on public transport, and a full ban could follow.
Britain is no stranger to burqa crime.
Last November two robbers – dressed in full-length women’s burkhas – pistol-whipped a post office manager during a daylight raid in Bradford.
The attackers bundled their 38-year-old victim into the premises as he opened the shop.
They brutally struck him on the head with the butt of a handgun when he was unable to open a safe.
But the raiders then panicked and fled empty-handed when they saw a customer peering through the window of the post office, in Oak Lane, Manningham.
Last summer a robber dressed from head to toe in a traditional Muslim woman’s burqa raided a travel agent, and also made off with thousands in cash.
And in 2008, a 6ft 6in robber hidden beneath a burqa was involved in a £200,000 raid on a jewellery store in Smethwick, West Midlands.
You can read more about burqa villainy here.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
February 7th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Have you seen this?
http://i787.photobucket.com/al.....burkas.jpg
And what’s the excuse for the spelling of “villain” then?
February 8th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Oh bugger, Barrie. Seven hours of packaging black rubber put me in a semi-coma. Corrected now.
February 8th, 2010 at 12:32 am
When the burqas walk (or shuffle or glide) I sometimes think they look like the Snuffleupagus off Sesame Street, latterly suicide bombers. You see one where you don’t expect it and you know what I mean.
Having said that, most of the time there is a (probably) ordinary woman inside who deserves respect and protection.
Poor cow………………….
February 8th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Ban the burqa? But what of people’s deeply held religious beliefs?
February 8th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Civil law trumps religious superstition; sorry.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:06 am
This is an interesting argument against the burqa.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:18 am
These guys weren’t using viels as masks…they’re just modest crossdressers.
The Burqa Boys
February 8th, 2010 at 5:18 am
Maybe we should all take to wearing them. That would expedite a ban, I should think. I’ll buy one tomorrow!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Have you seen the Bill Maher burqa fashion show sketch? I’m sure some people will find it offensive, but it is also very funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIpdC0o3mdM
February 8th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Motorcycle helmets have to be taken off in a bank ,shop etc, How is this any different ?
February 8th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
As long as we allow religious privilege this sort crime will continue and increase. How many terrorists have we allowed into the UK hidden under burqas?
I notice the Sikhs are again whining about the right of their brats to take daggers into school.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Why haven’t those brazen sluts in the picture got gloves on!? Honestly, its enough to make a man want to rape them! ( especially if he’s a bearded, fuckwitted, rug butter )
February 8th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
If Sikh kids (good description) want to wear daggers in school, there is a place where they can do so. It is called India. And if women want to wear full-body tents, there are places where they can do so. They are calls slave marts.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
This is a seriously funny send-up of the burqa by Afghan women. German musicians held a workshop at the State Music College in Kabul where one woman was so taken with the drums that she decided to have a go and created the band which is called, appropriately “Burqa Band”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....Y&NR=1
February 8th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
If I have deeply held religious beliefs that people with red hair should be killed ,does that give me the right to go around and kill them then, Buffy? Or were you joking.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca3M2feqJk8
This instantly reminded me of Battle of Algiers! C’est magnifique
February 9th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
I’m anti-prohibitionist on this, because I can’t see how you liberate women from sexist repression by threatening to prosecute them for wearing the wrong clothes in public. Not only does that not even begin to address the problem, it could make it worse.
I would make a libertarian secularist case both against the burqa and against banning it.
Similarly, there are good feminist arguments both against prostitution and against the prohibition of prostitution.
Dan
February 14th, 2010 at 6:22 am
“Villains find burquas the perfect disguise!” Well HELLO. Of course they fucking do. Jesus Walt Disney Christ, what is the world coming to? I was shopping in the High St not three days ago when my friend Cynthia, astute but hypoglycemic, needed a pastry. We espied a new cafe, Samosa’a, which wasn’t our cup of tea, but if Cynthia doesn’t get sugar on demand she dies. Well everybody in there was dressed from head to foot in burqas and we couldn’t make head nor tail of their jibber jabber. They were like the fucking sand people in Star Wars. If Cynthia hadn’t grasped a Snickers from a vending machine that still took Sterling she might not be here today. Not one of those ninja nightied freaks offered assistance and we can’t even name and shame them coz they could have been any fucker.